12/16/2010

Splendour of Table and Décor at Versailles

The restoration of the magnificent room called the 'Antichambre du Grand Couvert', in the Palace of Versailles, has just been completed. It was the place where king Louis XIV and his family used to have diner, at night (10 pm), in public - a ceremonial repast which was called 'au Grand Couvert'.

This book, a French English bilingual edition, put the focus on the "Grand Couvert", describing its organization and decrypting its rituals and codes.

The Attributes of Music

Two paintings, The Attributes of civilian music and The Attribute of Military music (1767) by Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) were recently given to the Louvre.

The paintings were supraporti ordered for the château de Bellevue in Meudon. Bellevue was given by Louis XV to his mistress Madame de Pompadour. She died in 1764, leaving the chateau to her brother, Abel François Poisson de Vandières, Marquis de Marigny (1727-1781).

Provenience : Coll. Eudoxe Marcille up to 1890, kept by his descendants until 2010.RF2010-12 et RF2010-13.

These two paintings are companion pieces to The Attributes of music (INV.3200) and The attributes of the arts (INV.3199) (1765) already part of the Louvre collection.

Henri IV's Head

A head reputed to be that of the French King Henri IV was found in a private home in 2008. After two years of investigation, a multidiciplinary team led by Philippe Charlier has just confirmed that the head indeed belonged to the monarch. It was stolen in the basilica of Saint-Denis, in 1793, when the revolutionaries desacrated the French king's grave.After so many years we are still not done with the ugly side of the Revolution.

Philippe Charlier is forensic medical examiner and osteo-archaeologist who already worked on several historical misteries. He is the one who evidenced that Agnes Sorel, mistress to king Charles VII, died from mercury poisoning. He also identified a little heart kept in Saint-Denis as being the one of Louis XVII, Louis XVI's son who was said to have died from bad treatments and negligence in the prison of the Temple.